Critters in Vacation House

[Fidler4]

We have an old pre-1900 farm house we bought two years ago that sits on 10 acres with about 5 acres of woods. It is a 2nd house for us now but we will move there within 10 years on a more permanent basis. We have not been there since October so it has been several months that it has sat empty. When my wife got there the other day there were holes in the first floor ceiling like something had gotten into the ceiling and chewed through the ceiling panels. I had her call a local pest control guy who did an inspection and found evidence of mice, squirrels and snakes in the attic, walls and ceiling. There might also be some birds that had gotten in an opening and built a nest. The inspector said it would take several visits to trap and get rid of the pests and seal up all of the holes in the exterior of the house and the detached garage. He is going to send a quote but gave a rough estimate of $3,000 to complete the job. I would like to do it myself but I wont be able to get there until the end of summer and will only have a week or two to work on the house. In the meantime the house will sit vacant again.

Our long term goal is to remodel the house but that is at least 5 years away.

We are city people so our experience in these matters is very limited. Any advice?

Thanks,

J

 

[texasjohn]

maybe you should talk to Turtle Man! Or rent it out to keep critters at bay.

 

[Pixguy]

Close up access points ASAP.

 

[jinman]

One time I was away from my house for two months and came home to find the furniture had been chewed, pillows gutted, and even canned goods chewed open in the pantry. It was either a very hungry squirrel or a BIG rat. I think it was squirrels because that's what I'd had some problems with before. They sure made themselves at home while I was gone. I even had glass-top tables where they chewed around the glass. You just never know what goes on when you aren't in a place for awhile. My leather jacket in the closet had the shoulders chewed through. The biggest mess was a can of cheese-whiz that got chewed open in the pantry.

 

[dave1949]

You probably won't like this suggestion, but I will throw it out.

It sounds like the remodel may require gutting the interior walls and ceilings. They are damaged, and to get an older home sealed up and well insulated with proper vapor barriers, new wiring & plumbing and such, it is almost a necessity to strip the interior side of exterior walls, and most interior walls, and ceilings.

You can set aside any original wood moldings, and the like for re-use during the renovation.

If you plan on doing that eventually, do it now and remove the majority of the places that harbor critters and make it attractive to them. Seal up the openings where critters can enter the building. If you go there only in warm weather months, it shouldn't matter if the walls are stripped for heating purposes.

So, rent a dumpster rather than pay $3,000 for extermination and patching?

Health note: If you do this yourself, take precautions against breathing airborne feces dust.

 

[jaotguy]

moth balls and cloves put in old socks ... tie a fishing line to each one ... toss into the holes and around the house ....

KEEP TRACK OF THE STRINGS / FISHING LINES...

the smell will drive most rodents out of the place and keep them out till you are ready to renovate.....

when you return , simply pull on all the lines and reel in the old socks .. place the socks in a zip lock baggie and seal them in ....

air out the place and renovate .

 

[jack43]

We have a get away barn in Lexington Va that we only get to every couple of mo.Had problem with rodents,someone told us to buy a pack of irish spring soap,dont have to take out of box.It worked.Will work on dear in yard also. Jack

 

[LJH]

I like the mothball & soap ideas, thanks! Two of our neighbors here in the canyon are part-time, as in only a few times a year. They both use those electronic screechy-screamer things and it seems to work pretty good.

 

[Fidler4]

Thanks for the suggestions. I sent them to my wife. She is going to try a variety of those ideas. Her friend also suggested the sock idea with moth balls. She said there were no mice droppings in the house so that is a positive thing. I was reading about the ultra sonic rodent deterrents but they seemed to have mixed reviews but it is at least worth a try. I really like the soap idea!

 

[texasjohn]

Be sure and let us know in several months if the perpetual Irish Spring makes a clean sweep of the critters.